ANTI-FINANCE BILL PROTESTS: African Union’s Rights Commission Warns Kenya Against Privacy Infringement
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), an organ of the African Union (AU), has expressed concern about the proposed Data Protection Act amendment in Kenya’s Finance Bill 2024.
The proposed law seeks to amend the Data Protection Act by exempting personal data processing by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) from the Act’s requirements.
This allows KRA to obtain taxpayers’ personal information from data processors and controllers without a court warrant.
In a statement on Wednesday, ACHPR’s Rapporteur on Human Rights in Kenya, Solomon Ayele Dersso, said such measures “set a dangerous precedent for government overreach and undermine the fundamental principles of privacy and civil liberties.”
According to Dersso, the proposal violates the African Charter’s protections for civil, political, and socioeconomic rights.
The commission urged the Kenyan government to reconsider and change the provision.
“Upholding the right to privacy is essential to maintaining public trust and adhering to the principles of human and people’s rights under the African Charter,” added Dersso.
Statement on the Situation in Kenya: Protests and Tax Measures Affecting Vulnerable Citizens https://t.co/mLxsLFPgiN
— African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (@achpr_cadhp) June 19, 2024
According to the Finance Bill proposal, KRA’s right to access personal information would be used in situations where disclosure is “necessary for the assessment, enforcement, or collection of any tax or duty under a written tax law.”
However, the proposal has been criticized for infringing on taxpayers’ privacy rights while also posing the risk of data misuse.
Parliament will debate the Finance Bill for the second time on Thursday, following the closure of public participation on June 10.
This comes amid heated protests in Nairobi, where Kenyans are urging MPs to shoot down the proposed law in its entirety.
The National Assembly Finance and Planning Committee acknowledges in its report, after considering Kenyans’ views, that the proposal to grant the KRA access to personal data may not be consistent with the constitutional right to privacy.
It observed that the Data Protection Act specifies the circumstances in which exemptions may apply.
The committee also notes that the Tax Procedures Act grants KRA or an authorised officer with a warrant full access to any data used to administer a tax law.
On Tuesday next week, MPs will move amendments approved by the speaker at the committee of the whole, also known as the bill’s Third Reading.
Legislators will then vote on the Finance Bill before June 30, before the fiscal year 2024/25 begins on July 1.
ANTI-FINANCE BILL PROTESTS: African Union’s Rights Commission Warns Kenya Against Privacy Infringement
